


Father and Son

by MaiKusakabe



Series: Life as a Whitebeard Pirate [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Gen, Pre-Marineford
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-18
Updated: 2015-01-18
Packaged: 2018-03-08 02:16:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3191549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaiKusakabe/pseuds/MaiKusakabe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The last night before the battle of Marineford, Marco goes to talk to his captain, aware that there is something the man hasn't told his sons.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Father and Son

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I'm the same Mai Kusakabe from ffnet, so no story stealing, before anyone thinks that. I wanted an account here, too, and am now posting my previous works :)
> 
> I have a lot of Gen WB Pirates stories, and when it became clear there would be more, I turned them into a single fanfic, but I already had many posted by then. I've decided to make a series with that, the fanfic (Life as a Whitebeard Pirate) and all the other stories. This is one of the first stories I wrote, and was originally posted as an individual work.
> 
> This story was beta read by ffnet user Dearshul.

The tension was almost tangible in the air. Most pirates, not only the members of the crew, were too restless to fall asleep, and in most cases were making a conscious effort to try and catch even some minutes of rest. Just for once, no one had resorted to alcohol when sleep wouldn't come.

It was dark, not only as a result of it being the middle of night, but also for being at the bottom of the sea. Looking up, only slowly moving currents were seen, sometimes cut by the barely discernable black form of a Sea King that wouldn't dare to approach their ships. The moon and the stars, just like the sun, hadn't been seen since they dove underwater days ago to cross Fishman Island, and it would be that way until they reached Marineford the next day.

Marco the Phoenix, first division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, had waited until he felt the nurses going to bed after helping the captain settle in for the night before leaving his cabin and heading for his father's.

"Come in, Marco." Came Whitebeard's voice even before he could raise his hand to knock on the door.

Marco pushed the door open, letting it close on its own once he was inside, and went to sit on one of the various empty crates that in the past had contained bottles of sake and now littered the floor, being used as improvised seats by anybody who came in here.

"What's the matter, son?" Whitebeard asked when the commander hadn't spoken after some minutes.

Realizing there was no softer way to say what was on his mind, Marco decided to go straight to the point.

"Pops, you don't intent to come out of this battle alive, do you?"

The strongest man in the world took his time to answer.

"I'm not planning on dying or anything, but if things get to that then no, I don't."

That it was the most probable result was left unsaid, both men already aware of it.

A long silence settled between them.

Marco didn't try to change his father and captain's mind. Independently of how much the thought hurt, he knew the man loved his sons too much to make that decision unless there really was no other choice, and Marco wouldn't, couldn't, make it even more difficult for him.

After several long minutes, Marco spoke again.

"Hey Pops, can I stay here? I can't sleep."

Whitebeard laughed.

"Aren't you a little old for that?" Marco simply smiled. "Alright, just for tonight."


End file.
